One More Scientist
by xBeautifulDreamerx
Summary: What would have happened if Jenner wasn't alone at the CDC? Would the world be different now? Rated M for language and maybe future times. Not to sure yet!
1. Chapter 1 CDC

(A/N – I do not own any of the Walking Dead or any of the characters from the series. I only claim my original thoughts and characters. I hope you enjoy!)

Chapter 1:

_Wildfire MSB3417 Active – Begin Transmission: A video monitor crackles as an unshaven man, Dr. Jenner, speaks into the camera. _

"Jenner here. It's day 194 since wildfire was declared and 63 days since the disease abruptly went global. There's no clinical progress to report. Item… I finally got the scrubbers in the east sector shut down to save power. Wish I could have done it a month ago, but it took me that long to figure it out. Too bad I never studied engineering. Could have saved a lot of amps. Item… I'm still not sleeping well. Can't seem to keep regular hours. Living underground doesn't help, not knowing if it's day or night. I'm just feeling very off-kilter.

_Wildfire MSB3417 Active – End Transmission_

In a biohazard suit, Dr. Jenner passes through an airlock into a laboratory. He opens a tissue sample labeled TS-19 and begins an experiment. Reaching for a beaker he accidentally knocks corrosive fluid on the tissue. An alarm sounds as Jenner runs to a decontamination chamber and disrobes.

At that moment a computer voice rang out, "Alert status. Air qualifiers indicate corrosive fumes. All personnel must clear the room. Corrosive element is deemed poisonous if inhaled. All personnel clear. Full decontamination in effect."

"No!" Jenner yelled from the safety of the airlock as the lab and all of the remaining TS-19 samples are engulfed in flames. Then the computer voice called out again, "Full decontamination complete."

"Great," came a voice making Jenner look its way as he walked out.

"I know," was all the he said.

Hours later a drunken Jenner speaks into the monitor, "The TS19 samples are gone. The tragedy of their loss cannot be overstated. They were our freshest samples by far. None of the other samples we gathered even came close. Those are necrotic, useless dead flesh. I don't even know why I'm talking to you. I bet there isn't a single son of a bitch out there still listening, is there? Is there? Fine. Saves me the embarrassment. I think tomorrow I'm gonna blow my brains out. I haven't decided. But tonight, I'm getting drunk."

"You mean we. We are getting drunk," he heard her voice from next to him and looked down and smiled as he pours himself and his companion another drink before turning back to the monitor. "Speaking of which, how far do you think I can chuck this, huh? Pretty far I bet." He throws the bottle and it shatters somewhere in the dark. "Oh!" his partner shouts.

"It's out of the stadium!" Jenner yells.

They both look at each other again before he sits back into his chair and slouches and they sit there quietly for a long time watching the red numbers on the clock tick down marking their time left.

While both of them sat there, neither knew that their lives were going to change more then what they already had since the world had gone to hell because of what was about to happen right outside of the doors that were protecting them.

Outside the compound the caravan arrives. They all try not to look at the corpses that are surrounding the building but it was hard to do because of how many corpses there actually was. The group carefully but quickly walks up to the CDC where hundreds of bodies lay dead on the ground.

"All right, everybody. Keep moving. Go on. Stay quiet. Let's go. Okay, keep moving. Stay together," Shane spoke to everyone so that everyone could hear him but not loud enough that the dead would hear him.

"Keep moving," Rick said as they got closer to the doors, "Come on."

"Shh!" Jacqui tried to quiet the noise.

"Carol," Lori called out while looking for Carol and Sophia.

"Shh," Shane said to the group when he saw something moving.

"Oh, God," Glenn said seeing what Shane saw.

While inside the CDC the proximity alarm sounds. Stunned, Jenner watches and listens to the group as they approach via a security monitor.

"No," Jenner said to himself.

When the group reached the building they realized that it was completely locked down and shuttered. "Keep it together. Come on," Shane said making sure that everyone made it up to the door.

"We're almost there, baby. Almost there," Lori said to Carl as they neared the doors.

"Nothing?" Shane questioned and ponded on the door as Rick looked around the doors.

"There's nobody here," T-dog called out to Rick and Shane.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick said a little louder then he meant to.

"Walkers!" Daryl called out to the group never taking his eyes of the ones that were the closest to the groups.

"Baby, come on," Lori begged her husband as Daryl shoots the walker in the head killing it.

"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl yelled at the men.

"He made a call," Shane replied back to the redneck.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl responded watching as more walkers wandered closer to the group.

"Just shut up. You hear? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane yelled at the man before turning back to his old partner, "Rick this is a dead end."

"Where are we gonna go?" Jacqui asked the panic making her voice shake a little.

"Do you hear me?" Shane called again getting closer to his friend, "No blame."

"She's right," Lori said to her husband trying not to let the panic show in her voice but failing, "We can't be there, this close to the city after dark."

"Fort Benning, Rick," Shane said trying to get through to Rick, "Still an option."

"On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles," Andrea finally said.

"125," Glenn corrected her, "I checked the map."

"Forget Fort Benning," Lori said looking around at everyone, "We need answers tonight, now."

"We'll think of something," Rick said desperately.

"Come on, let's go," Shane said trying once more to get through to Rick, "Let's get out of here. Let's go. Please."

"All right, everybody back to the cars. Let's go. Move," Shane tried to usher everyone while Rick catches sight of the security camera moving.

"The camera," Rick said slowly, "It moved."

"You imagined it," Shane said looking Rick in the eyes silently pleading for him to pull it together so they could leave.

"It moved," was all Rick could say, "It moved."

"Rick," Shane said finally starting to lose his temper, "It is dead man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on."

But inside Jenner was pleading with them, "No, just go away."

"Man, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick," Shane pleaded his hand tightening on the gun he was holding. Rick turned from Shane and pounded on the shutters. "Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori finally yelled at Rick.

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me," Rick yelled at the camera. Shane grabs hold of him and tries to drag him away while Lori keeps trying to help. "Everybody get back to the cars now!" Shane yells as he continues to pull Rick away.

"Please!" Rick begs "We're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left."

"Rick, there is nobody here," Lori pleaded trying to hold back her tears.

"We have nowhere else to go," Rick tried again as he pounds on the doors, "Keep your eyes open. If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please!"

"Come on, buddy, let's go. Let's go," Shane pleaded with Rick as the others were already walking away.

"Please help us. You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!" Rick screamed

Rick was finally giving up and everyone was leaving when the door to the CDC starts to open drowning the survivors in a bright light.

(A/N – So I know this is a recap of what happened in the show, and my character hasn't shown up yet. But there are some small changes in there with Jenner and my character will show up in the next chapter and that's when things will get interesting! So let me know what you think!)


	2. Chapter 2 Entering the CDC

(A/N – I do not own any of the Walking Dead or any of the characters from the series. I only claim my original thoughts and characters. I hope you enjoy!)

Chapter 2:

As the group stood there Shane's voice called out, "Daryl, you cover the back."

"Hello? Hello," Rick called through the opened doors.

"Close those doors. Watch for walkers," Dale said looking at the group one by one as they enter and look around the lobby. It was completely empty. "Hello?" Rick tried once again and that was when they heard the gun cock.

Jenner stood in the doorway with a rifle in his hands as he asked, "Anybody infected?"

"One of our group was," Rick said sadly, "He didn't make it."

"Why are you here? What do you want?" Jenner asked looking from face to face.

"A chance," Rick said speaking for the group.

"That's asking for an awful lot these days," Jenner said lowering his gun just a little bit.

"I know," was all Rick said. Jenner slowly looks at everyone before finally said, "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that," Rick said without a second thought and Jenner finally lowered his gun completely.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now," Jenner said, "Once this door closes it stays closed." The group ran through the doors and followed Jenner into an elevator. As Jenner pushes a button and the elevator beeps he says, "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." The group listens as something rattles and clangs and something beeps once more. "Rick Grimes," Rick says extending his hand to Jenner. Jenner looks away and says, "Dr. Edwin Jenner." And then everyone was quiet again and the only thing that made a sound was the elevator humming as it descended.

"Doctors always go around packing heat like that?" Daryl finally asked breaking the silence.

"There were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself. But you look harmless enough," Jenner said before looking down to Carl and saying, "Except you, I'll have to keep my eye on you." Carl smiled up at Jenner and Jenner chuckled softly before looking away and the smile fell from his face.

Once the elevator stops and the doors opened the group followed Jenner down a hallway. "Are we underground?" Carol asked looking around a little nervously.

"Are you claustrophobic?" Jenner asked.

"A little," Carol said a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Try not to think about it," Jenner said calmly as they entered a large dark room where Jenner had been before the group had arrived. "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." After some humming and beeping the lights flickered on and Jenner turned to the group, "Welcome to Zone 5."

"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick asked looking around before his gaze feel back to Jenner.

"I'm it," Jenner said then corrected himself, "Well there is one other. But it's just us here."

"You mean that person you were speaking with, Vi?" Lori asked.

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them… Welcome," Jenner said. Then a computer voice said, "Hello, guests. Welcome."

"We're all that's left, I'm sorry," Jenner said.

"So who is the other person?" Lori asked.

"First," Jenner said brushing off her question, "Blood tests." Jenner takes Andrea's blood after already collecting everybody else's blood. "What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever," Andrea said watching him finish with her blood.

"I've already broken every rule in the book letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough," Jenner said, "All done."

"Ooh," Andrea said as she stood up and started to black out. Jacqui catches her and asks, "Are you ok?"

"Mhmm," Andrea said gaining her strength back.

"She hasn't eaten in days," Jacqui explains, "None of us have."

"Well let's fix that," Jenner said and soon everyone was sitting around a large round table eating pasta and drinking wine and laughing.

Carl asked for some wine when it was being passed around and Lori quickly put her hand over his cup and said no. "You know," Dale started, "in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France."

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then," Lori shook her head smiling.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come on," Rick said smiling, "Come on." Dale laughs as Carl asked, "What?" Everyone laughed as Dale hands Carl a glass with half an inch of wine in it. "There you are, young lad," Dale said. Everyone watches and then chuckles when Carl took a sip and winced saying, "ewww!"

"That's my boy," Lori said smiling, "That's my boy. Good boy." And after saying that she pours his glass into hers.

"Yuck," Carl said, "That tastes nasty."

"Well," Shane says smirking, "just stick to soda pop there, bud."

"Not you, Glenn," Daryl said with a little smile on his face.

"What?" Glenn asked looking shocked that Daryl had really talked to him at all.

"Keep drinking little man," Daryl continued as the corner of his mouth went up a little bit more forming a bigger smirk, "I want to see how red your face can get." And with Daryl saying that the men laugh. Rick looks over at Jenner and sees that Jenner isn't enjoying the party. He then took his fork and tapped his glass, "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

"He is more than just our host," T-dog said.

"Hear hear!" Dale said with a smile and holding up his glass.

"Here's to you, Doc, booyah!" Daryl held up his bottle.

"Booyah," Dale said with a bigger smile on his face while looking at Daryl.

"Thank you," Rick started up again, "Thank you, Doctor."

"Booyah!" T-dog smiled as everyone clinks their glasses together.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, Doc? All the… the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?" Shane asked.

"We're celebrating, Shane. Don't need to do this now," Rick said back to Shane.

"Whoa, wait a second," Shane said, "This is why we're here, right? This was your move… Supposed to find all the answers. Instead we," Shane stopped and chuckled, "we found him. Found one man. Why?"

"Well, when things go bad, a lot of people just left," Jenner said, "went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asked.

"No," Jenner said sadly, "many couldn't face walking out the door. They… opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

"You didn't leave?" Andrea asked, "Why?"

"We just kept working," Jenner said, "hoping to do some good." Glenn then looks to Shane now that everyone was quiet and sullen, "Dude, you are such a buzz kill, man."

Soon enough everyone starts their talking again trying to get back the pleasant atmosphere when VI spoke making everyone listen intently. "Dr. Jenner to the lab," VI spoke out and everyone turned to look at Jenner, "Jenner to the lab."

"Ah," Jenner said cleaning his mouth with a napkin before standing up and showing a small smile to the group, "Almost forgot. Are you ready to meet Chris?"

"That's right," Lori said, "You did mention that there was someone else here with you."

"Yes we got a little off track," Jenner said turning and walking towards the lab area.

"So now we're gonna miss out on dinner to meet some dude?" Daryl asked, "Naw, the little man and I'll stay here til yall get back."

"Aw come on man," Glenn said his face already a little red.

"Drink up," Daryl said lifting his bottle up towards Glenn before bringing it to his lips and taking another swig.

"We'll be back then," Jenner said leaving the room.

(A/N – So this chapter is a little longer then I thought it was going to be. So I'm breaking it up into two chapters just to make it a little easier on the reading. I hope you like it and I can't wait for you to actually meet Chris. Let me know what you're thinking! Thanks again!)


	3. Chapter 2 part 2 At the CDC

(A/N – Thank you for reading this! Here is part two of the second chapter. I'm sorry this is taking so long just to get into the story, but I thought it was necessary and I hope that you enjoy this story.)

Chapter 2 part 2:

Daryl sat with Glenn and watched the Korean take another swig from his glass. The man was turning very red in the face and Daryl was getting a kick out of it. Glenn kept talking to him, mostly to himself, and laughing every now and then. Daryl brought the bottle up to his lips again and took another swig thinking about getting another helping of food but wondering if he should wait for the others to come back. He looked at all of their plates and saw that they had already eaten more and figured he might as well since everyone else already took more.

Back with the group Jenner lead them down different hallways until they reached a room with one large glass wall. The group peered into the room and watched a person walking around the lab and finally approaching the door to come out. They listened when they heard hissing coming from behind the door where the person had went in, and soon the door to the hallway opened. "Hey there Chris," Jenner said smiling, "I almost forgot about you. Sorry we started dinner already. But come out here and meet our guests." That being said everyone's attention was now on the door as the person Jenner was talking to finally emerged.

Daryl ate in silence while Glenn let out one more chuckle at his latest joke before letting his head fall down onto his arms that were placed on the table. Daryl smirked and let the man take a break for a little while and continued to eat. Every now and then he would glance up at the door the group left through waiting to see them come back. After what seemed like hours Daryl decided that it was time for him to go find the others. "Come on man," Daryl said walking over to Glenn and shook the man by the shoulder.

"Five more minutes mom," Glenn mumbled out.

"I ain't your mom," Daryl said grabbing the man's arm and pulling him up, "And ya ain't gettin any more time. Now get yer ass up."

"Ok Daryl," Glenn mumbled out angrily, "Where are we going?"

"Find the others," Daryl said letting go of the man's arm and walking off towards the door. Glenn followed behind Daryl a little clumsily at first but the more they walked the less the room spun. Daryl was a little thrown off by how big it really was in the CDC but he heard footsteps coming closer and someone talking so he turned and followed the sounds. Soon they met up with the two voices. Rick and Jenner looked up at them and Rick smiled. "We were just coming to get you two," Rick said.

"Where's everyone?" Glenn asked his voice getting stronger.

"They are sitting in the rec room catching up with Chris. Figured we would come get you guys before anything else happened," Jenner said turning slightly to the way they were just coming from. Daryl just nodded and the small group walked in silence for a while before Glenn finally started talking. "So what's he do?" Glenn asked.

"He who?" Rick asked.

"Chris," Glenn said finally seeing the door.

"Chris…" Rick started but was cut off.

"Isn't a man," a women said as she leaned against the door frame.

"Oh," Glenn stammered, "Uh, sorry."

"It's ok," Chris laughed. Daryl took a minute to take her in. She was leaning against the door frame with her head turned towards the group in the hallway, but Daryl could tell that from the angle of her body that she had been watching the group as they all talked excitedly and looked around the room. She smiled at each of them before turning her head back to the larger group and smiling as the kids tried to play a new card game. She was slender, but not like the people in his group, she looked like she had been eating regularly unlike the women in their group that were stick thin from not eating. She had her light brown hair tied up on the top of her head and he couldn't tell how long it was but because of her light gray tank top he could that she was built by the slight muscle definition she had in her arms. The top of her head probably reached his chin and he couldn't tell for sure but he thought he saw a tattoo on her right shoulder just under the strap of her shirt. He followed her shirt down across her flat stomach to the brown belt that held up her beige work pants that didn't really do much for her. He did notice that she, for some reason, had black combat boots on instead of the regular black shoes that Jenner had on.

She didn't look old, she seemed hardly over twenty-five. "_If that_," Daryl thought to himself as he looked back up her and realized that she was watching him. While Chris was standing there watching the kids she suddenly felt like she was being watched. She turned her head slightly to look at the man, Rick, which she had been introduced to earlier. Then she let her eyes wander to the Asian man who was also watching the group, and then she finally looked at the dirty looking man that was standing behind her. And no sooner did she look at him did he look back up from her feet and met her gaze. But only for a moment. Once she saw that he was looking at her he quickly looked away to look at the rest of his group and making sure that he didn't make eye contact with the woman again.

Jenner noticed that Chris was now looking the man, Daryl, from head to toe. Jenner raised an eye brow and cleared his throat making Chris look at him. She smiled before looking back to the group as Jenner moved forwards into the group. "Most of the facility is powered down," Jenner said looking at everyone, "including housing so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. This is the rec room."

"Obviously," Chris chuckled.

"Yes well," Jenner continued, "Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies if you shower, go easy on the hot water."

"Hot water?" Glenn said perking up.

"That's what the man said," T-dog said smiling. Everyone looked at each other smiling and some were laughing. Chris has to chuckle as she watched the exchange. She couldn't imagine the last time that they were able to take a nice shower.

Soon after they were told that there were showers the group had left, found rooms to use and put their things down, before running off with clean clothes to the showers. She had walked away from the rec room with Jenner and had gone to sit with him at the dinner table. She hadn't eaten dinner yet so Jenner sat with her while she ate. "Have you told them yet," Chris said before taking a sip of wine.

"About what part?" Jenner said picking at a piece of bread.

"About how they are all infected? About how this place is gonna blow tomorrow? Anything?" she asked taking another bite of her food.

"No," he said slowly chewing over the bread.

"And why not?"

"Why have them panic now?" Jenner said shrugging and pulled another piece of bread off.

"They have a right to know," Chris said finishing her wine.

"They'll find out," Jenner said without looking her in the eye. They didn't always get along, or agree on much, but Jenner cared about her all the same and she understood why he was the way that he was. Chris sighed and stood up, "Night Jenner."

"Night Smith," Jenner said knowing they only called each other by their last names when one wasn't pleased with the other. Jenner knew that she would get over it, they everyone would find out eventually.

(A/N – So I lied… this is going to be three part chapter! I'm sorry but by the time I was half way through with it, I was way over 2,000 words… so I cut it up just so that you can read it better and it wasn't too much at one time. I have some people already liking and following the story but no comments. I hope this time someone leaves one! I'll try to get the rest of this chapter up soon and hopefully I will never have to split up a chapter like this again! I hope you like it so far, I know it's taking a bit to get into the story but I need the background here to make the story good. Let me know what you think and I'll update soon!)


	4. Ch 2 part 3 Everything Comes to an End

(A/N – I hope you enjoy sorry it took so long and leave your reviews!)

Chapter 2 part 3:

As Chris walked down the hall she stopped when she heard crying coming from one of the rooms. She knew that she shouldn't listen, but she wanted to make sure that everything was ok with the new group. She noticed that Rick was walking down the hallway with a bottle of wine in his hand she walked a little closer and the crying from one of the rooms stopped and Rick walked by smiling at her, "Jenner still in there?"

"Yep," she said and watched as he continued down the hallway only stopping for a moment to smile at the old man, Dale she remembered his name, that walked past saying hey to Rick. When all was quiet, and when Dale was about turn in the crying started again. He stopped to look at Chris then hurried into the room where the crying was coming from. Chris knew that she should go, but when she heard vomiting she decided to stay. _'Just in case there is something really wrong with her," _Chris kept telling herself.

"Andrea?" Dale called for her. He walked in a little further and found Andrea sitting over a toilet getting sick. He squats down next to her and rubs her back a little. "That's it. That's it," Dale kept saying, "Get it out. There you go."

"Oh God," Andrea sobbed before reaching up to flush the toilet. She moved away from Dale not wanting him to comfort her. "Everything's gone."

"It's always better going down than coming up, huh?"

"I don't mean the wine, Dale. You know," she sobbed again, "it's over. There's nothing left. Don't you see that?"

"Oh, I… I see a… a chance to make a new start."

"Oh my God, Dale," Andrea laughed, "Dale, didn't you see the look Jenner's face? Hear what I'm saying. There's nothing left."

"That's not true," Chris finally said sticking her head into the room to see Dale crouched by Andrea, "There will always be hope. You can't give up on that."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Andrea said scoffing at her, "You can't even leave this place. You don't know what it's like out there. You don't know what it's like to…"

"Lose someone you love?" Chris snapped, "You don't have any idea what you are talking about so why don't you pull yourself together and go to bed. Maybe you'll be better in the morning." And with that being said, Chris left the room in a worse mood then before.

Meanwhile Rick just joined Jenner in the big room. "How's the blood?"

"No surprises," Jenner said to Rick.

"I came to thank you."

"You did," Jenner said eyeing the man who seemed to be drunk. Rick takes another drink and goes to lean against a console but instead he falls to the floor and into a sitting position. "You al…you alright?"

"You don't know what it's like," Rick said and laughed, "You don't know what it's like out there. You may you think that you do, but you don't. We'd have died out there. It was only a matter of time. There's too many of those things. My… my boy… My… my wife, I never… I never told 'em what I really thought. I never even hinted, just… just kept it in. Kept it in and kept us moving, you know. Just kept it in. Kept us…" Rick drifted into silence as his emotions over took him.

"It'll all be okay. It'll be okay," Jenner said.

Back in the rec room Chris was just passing the doorway when she decided to stop and watch the small group that was in there. She watched as the kids, Carl and Sophia if she remembered correctly, were playing a game of checkers while Carol was reading a book. Lori walked up from behind Chris and put her hand on Chris' shoulder. "Thank you," Lori said, "For all of this." Chris just smiled and nodded as Lori smiled and walked into the rec room with her wine in her hand. "Any good books?" Lori smiled at Carol.

"Uh-huh," Carol says closing the book, "Enough to keep us busy for years." Then Carol turned to the kids, "Alright, come on, kids. It's bed time."

"Baby," Lori said to Carl, "go say your prayers. I'm gonna browse a bit."

"Come on," Carol said to the kids before turning to Lori, "This is the first night we might actually get some real sleep."

"Hmm," Lori hummed in agreement.

"It's a real miracle, isn't it?" Carol said as she tapped Sophia on the nose and then turned and walked out with them to take them to their bedrooms. Chris started to walk away but heard footsteps behind her but she didn't turn back until after she turned the corner in the hallway. She saw a man, Shane, walking into the rec room, hardly even noticing that she was there. She stopped for a second and listened. She didn't trust that man for some reason, and the fact that he looked very, very drunk was not sitting well with her. She stopped and listened without getting closer to the room. She sees Shane's hand grip the door knob for a moment before slamming the door closed behind him. Chris then hurried to the door and listened for Lori's reaction. "Jesus," Lori gasped, "You scared me."

"I'm gonna tell you a few things and you're gonna listen to me," Shane slurred.

"Now is not the time," Lori said sternly.

"Come on," Shane chuckled, "When is it ever the time?" Chris heard Lori put a book back on the shelf and then heard footsteps coming closer to the door. Chris went to leave when she heard Shane say, "How can you treat me like this?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"No," Shane said blocking her exit, "Huh-uh."

"Because you told me my husband was dead," Lori said and Chris covered her mouth hiding her confused gasp.

"Jesus, Lori. I didn't lie to you, alright?" Shane said, "I didn't. Do you know what it was like there? Huh? Just stop. Things where falling apart. They were slaughtering people in the hallways. It was a massacre. There were walkers everywhere."

"So you left him?" Lori's voice shocked Chris because of how close it was to the door.

"Everybody else ran. There were no doctors there. It was just me. He was hooked up to machines and I did not know what to do. I even took my ear and I put it on his chest and I listened for a heartbeat and I did not hear one. And I- I- I- I- I don't know why. Maybe it was gunfire. I don't know what it was, but there was no way he could've survived that. No way." Shane banged on the door and Chris jumped. "He did," Lori said her voice shaking a little.

"Yeah," Shane said, "but then I had y'all to think about, didn't I?" Chris pressed her ear harder to the door and heard something bump into a table. "I had you and Carl," Shane said, "and I needed to think about…"

"Okay, no. No."

"I had to get you guys safe to Atlanta. That's what I had to do. Just stop!" Chris jumped when the table got shoved again and she knew that it was Lori that was on the table. Chris' hand hovered over the door knob wondering if Lori needed her help. "If you thought for a second that he was still alive," Shane continued, "would you have come? So I saved your life… you and your little boy's. That's what I did. Right? And if I could've traded places with him, I would have. I would trade places with him right now because…"

"No no no. No," Lori said.

"No no no. You… I love you. Shh shh," Shane said, and right as Chris went to open the door, "It ain't right to listen to other people's conversations."

"Oh!" she gasped quietly and spun around, "You scared me. I think she needs help."

"Please! No!" both Daryl and Chris heard Lori yell, and right as they were about to walk in they heard Shane groan in pain, pound the wall and then he threw the door open. Daryl lifted his hand to his mouth and chewed on the skin on the side of his thumb. Shane eyed both of them with his hand over his neck before he stalked off to his room. Chris looked into the room after he left and saw Lori trying to compose herself. "I'm sorry," Chris said walking into the room. Chris reached her hand out to Lori but Lori moves away and smiles at Chris, "No, it's ok. Sorry about that." And then Lori was gone.

"Well then," Chris said shrugging at Daryl and walking into the room. Daryl watched as the woman sat on the couch and crossed her legs under her before she leaned down and reached under the couch and pulled out a crocheted blanket. Daryl stood leaning against the door frame and watched as she finally looked back up at him. She smiled and patted the spot on the couch next to her. Daryl lifted his hand to his mouth and started to chew on the skin of his thumb. After a minute of silence Chris shrugged and pulled the bottle of wine out of the blanket and took the top off before taking a drink and starting on the blanket. Daryl watched her for a minute before walking over to a chair and turning it so he could sit in it. Chris watched as the man straddled the chair and watched as her hands made a blanket. She smiled and looked back down at her hands once Daryl took a drink from his bottle. "Keep drinking that stuff and you will have a terrible hang over," Chris said taking another drink from her bottle.

"Hmph," was all that Daryl said. For a long time they sat there in silence. Chris working on her blanket and Daryl went back and forth between looking at different magazines and watching her work. Eventually Chris stood up and stretched out her legs and arms before putting everything back under the couch. Daryl could feel his head swimming and could not help but to watch as the petite woman bent and twisted trying to stretch out her muscles. "Where are you staying tonight?" she asked him.

"Didn't really look for a place yet," Daryl said.

"Well if you can't find one, you can drag a cot into her. I gave my room to Carol and Sophia so I'll be sleeping on the couch in here tonight," Chris said as she reached under her shirt and unclasped her bra before pulling it out of the side of her shirt. She didn't even notice Daryl staring at her chest when she reached down and pulled a thin blanket out of the drawer and a white pillow. Then she looked up at Daryl, "Could you turn around? I'm going to put on my shorts." Without saying a word, he grunted and left the room. She smiled at his back and kicked her socks shoes and pants off before pulling on her short, almost too soft, shorts. After climbing onto the couch she shook her hair out and tried to fall asleep. Soon she heard water running from the showers and she listened to it until she fell asleep.

Daryl had taken a cold shower to try and calm his nerves. When he had left the room, he had turned around because he forgot his drink, but when he did, he saw Chris with nothing but thin white panties on that hardly covered her ass. He watched as she bent over and shimmied out of her pants and into her shorts. When she went to lay on the couch Daryl all but ran away from the door hoping she hadn't seen him. He knew he was drunk for watching her, but for some reason he couldn't get her image of his head. So, not being able to find an empty room he took a cold shower knowing that it was too soon to go back to the rec room where she was laying down in those short shorts and thin top.

After spending a little too much time in the shower he grabbed a cot and a pillow and blanket before dragging it back to the room. When he got there Chris stirred from the noise but didn't wake up. Once he got comfortable with himself he watched her chest raise and fall until he fell asleep.

The next morning Chris woke to find Daryl was already gone. So she got dressed and headed to find breakfast. When she got to the room with everyone else, she saw that they were eating the powdered eggs that she could never make taste right. She grabbed a plate and held hers out for T-dog to put food on her plate and when she sat down she heard T-dog ask, "What the hell happened to you? Your neck?"

"I must have done it in my sleep," Shane said.

"Never seen you do that before," Rick said and Chris just kept her eyes on her plate and when she took a bite of the eggs she smiled at T-dog. They were delicious. After Chris finished her plate she went back to the rec room. She had heard that the group was asking more questions and she didn't want to hear it. So she walked to her room to grab her head phones and went to the rec room to finish her blanket.

Soon after she finished her bottle of wine, she felt the air go off and she sighed knowing what would soon follow. She took her wallet out of her back pocket and looked at the small pictures before putting her music on play and continuing on the blanket.

Then her music was gone. "The hell are ya doin!"

"Daryl!" Chris exclaimed as he grabbed her hand.

"Come on! We got twenty minutes to get outta here!"

"Stop!" Chris yelled, "I'm not going."

"What? Ya wanta die!" When she didn't say anything he grabbed her again. This time Chris didn't fight and when Daryl asked her where her things where she ran with him and packed her things as fast as she could. "My blanket!" Chris yelled.

"What!" Daryl screamed at her, "Ya stupid bitch! It's just a blanket!"

"Then go!" she yelled back, "I'll meet you up top!" Daryl grabbed some of her bags and left as fast as he could. Chris ran back to the rec room and shoved her blanket and everything she needed into her bag. She stopped and grabbed her wallet off the table. All she could think about was what was she going to do out there. She hadn't even seen the world outside the CDC since before wildfire started spreading. She started shaking before shoving some more things into her back pack before crying just for a moment. "One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six…," Chris counted out loud with a shaky breath before turning and running. "Jenner!" she yelled seeing Dale and Andrea at the top to the stairs, "Let's go!" Just then they heard a big explosion and Jenner smiled, "There's no time to argue. You have to go."

"I wish things would have been different. She was a good friend, and so are you. I'll miss both of you," Chris said before joining Andrea and Dale as they ran outside the room. She looked back just once more before she left for the last time.

Just as they were running outside, Andrea and Dale first and her following behind, she heard the group yelling at them to get down while honking the horn. All three of them jumped behind a pile of sandbags just as a huge fireball fills the CDC building until the entire building and most of what surrounds it was engulfed in flames as the CDC finally implodes.

Daryl sighs as he sees everyone safe and sees that Chris made it out to. He wasn't entirely sure why he focused on her so he shook his head and got comfortable in his seat.

"Get in, get in, get in. Get in!" Glenn shouted at the three people outside the RV. Chris looks over to Daryl and saw that he wouldn't make eye contact with her so she hurried inside of the RV. She watched as Andrea cried and glared angrily at Dale who wouldn't look at her. She feels the RV move and watched as the cars all turn and drive the other way.

(A/N – My goodness work has been so busy lately so you'll have to forgive me for taking so long to update! Well anyways we finally got out of the CDC and I can't wait to continue on with the story! Thanks for sticking with me! Please review the work so far!)


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